Posts Tagged ‘Mary Jo White’

Real leaders and financial cops very much appreciate that principle. Those playing politics and crony capitalism circa 2014 find it to be anathema.

Why is it that bad practices on Wall Street (e.g high frequency trading, abusive sales practices, market manipulation) are too often tolerated in Washington while costing ordinary Americans untold sums? Very simply, when the punishments do not fit the crimes the practices will perpetuate. The penalties become little more than a cost of doing business. Those ‘writing the tickets’ are little more than meter maids.

Those engaged in regulatory oversight might not appreciate these assertions but these realities are part and parcel of the self-regulatory model on Wall Street. To think otherwise is simply to be willfully blind. SEC commissioner Kara Stein recently told the folks at FINRA to take off their blinders. (more…)

Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Mary Jo White opened the door to a potential overhaul of financial-market oversight, saying the special regulatory status of U.S. exchanges may not best serve investors or public companies.

Wow. That simple statement may never lead anywhere, but the mere fact the SEC issued a statement of this sort is a tidal shift of epic proportions. Who else echoed the sentiments of this seismic activity? (more…)

If Mary Jo White were to be confirmed as the new head of the SEC, might she be the most conflicted individual to be our nation’s chief financial cop since the first person to occupy that seat, that being Joe Kennedy himself?

The White House and Washington would like to position Ms. White’s confirmation as nothing more than a formality. Our democracy deserves better than that. (more…)

My commentary the other day entitled Can Whistleblowers ‘Cross-Examine’ the SEC? received a fair bit of attention and some rather interesting comments. In light of the very fluid developments within the realm of financial regulation, I strongly recommend that post.

The primary concern I raised within that commentary – and hence the title – was that a key panel at the upcoming 39th Annual Securities Regulation Institute consists solely of industry insiders. Why might that be such a concern?

Well, one of the main critiques of our financial regulatory system made by many, including Harry Markopolos, has been the revolving door between our regulators and the industry.

Later this month, Northwestern Law will be hosting its 39th Annual Securities Regulation Institute in Coronado, California. In light of everything that has occurred on Wall Street and in Washington, one might think this could be a lively conference as it looks to provide:

A timely analysis of recent laws and developments in the corporate and securities law fields presented by senior SEC officials and leading practitioners.

While reviewing the conference invitation, I am particularly intrigued by one workshop to be held on Friday morning, January 20th. What is this workshop? Who is involved? Why am I so intrigued? Please stick with me here as we preemptively try to connect some dots.

Regular readers may be accustomed to my designating the relationship between our financial industry and the political crowd as the “Wall Street-Washington incest.” The technical term for this relationship is regulatory capture, as defined by our investing primer:

…the process by which regulatory agencies eventually come to be dominated by the very industries they were charged with regulating. Regulatory capture happens when a regulatory agency, formed to act in the public’s interest, eventually acts in ways that benefit the industry it is supposed to be regulating, rather than the public.

Bingo!! That’s the incestuous relationship we’re talking about.

Is the game really on the up and up? How does regulatory capture work? Who are the financial cops really protecting?

Thank you to the number of readers who pointed out to me an amazing expose of regulatory capture written by Matt Taibbi in Rolling Stone. Taibbi provides extensive detail in writing, Why Isn’t Wall Street in Jail?This article is a must read. (more…)